Banjo



G. F. PUNTOLILLO. BANJO.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.30, 1919.

1,345, 104. Patented June 29, 1920.

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' ATTORNEY onn'rzmo R'PUNTOLILLO, or nnw Yemen, Y.

BANJO.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented June 29, 1920,

Application filed August 30, 1919. Serial No. 320,769.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GAn'rANo F. P N'ro- LILLO, subject of the King of Italy, and resident of New York city, in the county of New York and State ofNew York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Banjos, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to provide a banjo with a resonating chamber between the main rim and the outer portion of the stretched head, which chamber is provided with holes, whereby the head will be free to vibrate and the sound will pass through said holes, the volume of tone of the banjo there by being increased.

My invention comprises novel details of improvement that will be more fully hereinafter set forth and then pointed out in the claims.

' Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming part hereof, wherein- Figure 1 is a partly broken plan view of a banjo embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail section on the line 2, 2, in Fig. 1, and

'Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail face view.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several views.

My improved banjo comprises a main annular rim 1, which may be made in an ordinary manner of such rims for banjos, and a neck 2 and head 3 as usual. At 4 are brackets shown secured to the rim by screws 5 spaced around the rim in an ordinary manner and having holes receiving hooked threaded rods 6 that engage holes in the ring 7 that engages the rolled or folded edge of the head to stretch the same. At 8 is an outer ring, which may be of metal, shown encircling the adjacent outer edge portion of rim 1 and resting at its inner edge against the brackets 4:. The ring 8 extends a suitable distance beyond rim 1.- The head 3 is folded at its outer part over the adjacent edge of said ring, thering 7 encircling ring 8 to retain the outer part of the head thereagainst by means of the rods, 6, nuts 6 thereon and brackets 4:. At 9 is an inner ring spaced from ring8 and resting upon rim 1, being shown resting in an annular recess 1* at the inner edge of said rim.

The outer edge of ring 9 extends beyond the plane of the corresponding outer edge of ring 8, and the head bears upon and is stretched over and against said edge of ring 9, whereby the marginal portion 3 of the head'extends at an angle to the plane of the innervibratory portion of the head upon which the bridge 10 rests. Between the rim 1, rings 8, 9, and outer marginal por tion 3 of head 3 is provided a resonating chamber 11, and the ring 9 is provided with an annular series of spaced holes 9, which permit the sound from the chamber 11 to escape freely. The edge of ring 9 upon which the head bears is relatively thin and preferably rounded to not injure the head, leaving the latter free to vibrate.

The chamber 11 provides what I term a resonating or vibrating chamber, and by means of my improved construction set forth, whereby said chamber is located be tween rim 1, rings 8, 9, and head portion 3, the sound waves will be amplified in said chamber and will pass through the holes 9, whereby the banjo will produce increased volume of musical tones of a pleasing and melodious character.

My invention is not limited to the details of construction set forth as the same may be varied, within the scope of the appended claims, without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having now described my invention what I claim is 1. A banjo comprising a rim having a neck secured to and projecting therefrom, spaced inner and outer rings, a head bearing upon said rings, and means to stretch the head thereon, providing a chamber between said-rings and head over the rim, the inner ring having holes, the area within the rim being unopposed on the side away from the head.

2. A banjo comprising a rim having a recess at its inner edge, a ring fitted at one edge in said recess, an outer ring spaced from the'inner ring and fitted along the outer periphery of said rim, a head bearing upon said rings, the edge of the inner ring against the head being thin relatively to the rim, and means to stretch the head upon the rings providing a chamber therebetween, the area within the rim being unopposed on the side away from the head.

3. A banjo comprising a rim having brackets, a ring around the rim supported upon 5 the brackets, a head, a second ring retaining the head upon the first named ring, rods connecting the brackets with the second ring,

and an inner ring upon the rim spaced from the first named rin and engaging the head, providing a resonating chamber. 10 Signed at New York in the county of New York and State of New York this 29th day of August A. D. 1919.

GAETANO F. PUNTOLILLO. 

